Austin Collie Open to New Ideas

The Place for BC Lion Discussion. A forum for Lions fans to talk and chat about our team.
Discussion, News, Information and Speculation regarding the BC Lions and the CFL.
Prowl, Growl and Roar!

Moderator: Team Captains

Post Reply
Blitz
Team Captain
Posts: 9094
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:44 am

This article was written prior to the Regina game. I have a high regard for his talent. His early career in the NFL showed potential all-pro status. He was an incredible receiver at BYU.

Collie, along with the potential of Leonard give us two new weapons in our offensive receiver set that change this season's dynamic. Collie had 11 catches going into Regina but was only targeted once in our last game. With Lulay running more, Leonard led the way with four receptions while Arsenault had the most yardage of any of our receivers with 2 catches for 51 yards.

Before this season is over, if he remains healthy, Collie is going to be a difference maker.

Lions’ Austin Collie opens up to new ideas, not media

Star receiver’s comeback closely monitored on both sides of the border

By Mike Beamish, Vancouver Sun July 18, 2015

REGINA — Into his second month with the B.C. Lions, former NFL receiver Austin Collie remains something of a mystery, hiding behind a face that speaks of grim determination and a policy of never opening up to a notebook or a microphone.

He may be kind to children, autograph seekers and colleagues, but for reporters there is a problem. Collie doesn’t want to talk much. It’s left for others to talk for him.

“Ultimately, he’s an ultracompetitive guy,” says John Beck, the former NFL and BYU quarterback who recruited Collie for the Lions. “With his past history of being with elite quarterbacks (Peyton Manning and Tom Brady among them), I knew one of the things he excelled at was being where the quarterback wanted him to be. That’s why I know he has room for improvement, getting used to the angles and depth of the Canadian field.

“Everybody who plays this game is a competitive person. But, I think, Austin is one of those guys who has a little bit extra. I think he believes in himself a lot. And he demands a lot of himself. He’s always striving to be what he thinks he can be.”

A man of ordered habits, personal fastidiousness and continual experimentation, Collie merits recognition as an athlete committed to his craft beyond the usual standards. Even at practice, when his position group is not on the field, there is no down time. Collie is off to the side, stretching a body part, working on his pass routes, tossing a football, seeking input from Chris Boyko, the strength and conditioning coach. His locker stall at the team’s training facility is a depository of Rube Goldberg devices for self-improvement.

“I think he’s a guy who recognizes that all the small, little things can add up to making him a better player,” says quarterback Travis Lulay. “He puts a lot of time into caring for his body. He has different contraptions that loosen up muscles. You see him doing a lot of that extra stretching. To me, that says this guy is something of a perfectionist. He’s a very competitive dude. He hates losing a one-on-one rep (in practice). He thinks about what he could do differently. He talks with me about it. He wants every little detail to be in his favour.”

Like many accomplished football players, Collie is such a graceful athlete that, to unknowing observers, it looks as if his gifts came naturally. To some degree. But obsessiveness has just as much to do with it, notes head coach Jeff Tedford.

“I would call him atypical. I don’t think he’s a typical football player at all,” Tedford says. “He works at it, he really does. He’s always out there stretching, doing something, working with his gizmos in the locker-room. He doesn’t waste a moment. He’s really into how his body feels, how his shoes feel. When he’s on the field, it’s all business.”

Collie’s wariness with quote seekers or microphone wielders began after a series of concussions and a torn patellar tendon interrupted and derailed an NFL career that began with great promise: 118 receptions and 15 touchdowns in 25 games as a reliable target for Manning, when both were members of the Indianapolis Colts.

Newspaper columnists have urged him to retire. NFL general managers have turned him away. But Collie, who became a poster boy for the concussion issue (articles on the receiver frequently are accompanied by a photo of Collie, laid out on the turf), insists he is a grown man, capable of making his own decisions about his health and future.

He is both a client and an endorser of Cognitive FX, a concussion rehabilitation and research clinic based in Provo, Utah (“to make sure the head’s right and still functioning properly,” Collie stated, in an interview with the Provo Daily Herald) and his brother-in-law Jordan Pendleton’s personal training business in South Jordan, Utah.

In the Beehive State, where he played for three starry seasons at BYU, Collie’s comeback is being followed with consuming interest.

“He is the best wide receiver in BYU history,” says Ben Criddle, a former defensive back who hosts an ESPN 960 radio show on Cougar sports. “Most BYU fans believe, had he stayed healthy, he had the potential to be an All-Pro NFL wideout. This comeback has to do with the buzz. But it’s also because of fan loyalty to the Cougars and what Austin accomplished in his career, both at BYU and in the NFL. Austin has tremendous potential. B.C. Lion fans have only seen a glimpse of what he can do when given more targets.”

His decision to re-start his career in Canada, however, thrust Collie once more into the glare of the unwanted publicity and trappings of athletic celebrity — the media banter, the invasion of his privacy — he so shuns.

With 11 catches, 149 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point convert in his first two starts, entering Friday’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he already merits the recognition he wears like a hair shirt.

“Hopefully, I’m better than last week. That’s all I care about,” Collie says. “What do I need to do better? Everything. My routes need to be better. I’m still working on the steps, on the waggle, getting comfortable. There are still some things ingrained from the NFL I have to reconfigure. There are lots of areas for improvement.”

To watch him is to know that he is all-in. Except in allowing others to know him.

"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
User avatar
WestCoastJoe
Hall of Famer
Posts: 17721
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 8:55 pm

A fan might say that Collie is a gift from the football Gods to our team. (Great receiver. Classified as National for another bonus.)

As was Jeff Tedford.

As was George Cortez.

As was Doug Malone.

As was Robin Ross.

Who is the "straw that stirs the drink?" ... to use the phrase of Reggie Jackson. I would venture to say it is Jeff Tedford.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
kenny
Champion
Posts: 660
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2004 8:39 am

I think the NFL has labeled him as the poster child for concussions. With the numbers he put up it is really surprising that no team really gave him a shot. With his age combined with how pro-ready a lot of the college receivers are I doubt he gets another shot. Great for us though, hopefully he plays with a real chip on his shoulder and gets better as the year goes on.
User avatar
Toppy Vann
Hall of Famer
Posts: 9789
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:56 pm

kenny wrote:I think the NFL has labeled him as the poster child for concussions. With the numbers he put up it is really surprising that no team really gave him a shot. With his age combined with how pro-ready a lot of the college receivers are I doubt he gets another shot. Great for us though, hopefully he plays with a real chip on his shoulder and gets better as the year goes on.
The NFL would be insane to take him back given the massive head injury law suit that just went down and this issue won't go away down there.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
J5V
Rookie
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2011 12:27 pm

He's looked good early.
Post Reply